444 The Zong Consortiums plans (1/2)

”Why do I feel like our attack on Stronghold 144 seems way too easy?” Ren Xiaosu asked puzzledly, ”Could something go wrong? We had better be careful.”

More than half the granary was burning, but the armored brigade was still only making its way back from the north at this moment. By the time the armored brigade arrived back at the stronghold, the Razor Sharp Company would probably have already scooted off somewhere.

The Razor Sharp Company met with almost no resistance from the stronghold. Although it was quite chaotic inside the stronghold, that was mainly due to the residents panicking.

Next to him, the deputy commander was at a loss for words when he heard what Ren Xiaosu said. 'You call this easy? You've already killed three regimental commanders, while I, the second-in-command, have also fallen into your hands. So what do you mean by easy? Is that even something a human would say?'

As the granary burned, Ren Xiaosu realized that one-third of it was actually empty. He asked the deputy commander, ”Have the grains been transported to the front line already?”

”No,” The deputy commander shook his head. ”The generals bought most of it up before the war began using a number of different identities.”

”You mean they have to buy their own food when they go to war?” Ren Xiaosu was stunned.

”No, they were planning to sell the grains to the residents once the war started. The higher-ups don't actually know about this. The generals said that if the grains were sold to them first, they would make up for the reserves once the grain prices dropped back down, and no one would discover it. After all, the original battle plan did not require too much food.” The deputy regiment said, ”At least, it wouldn't all be used up.”

Oh well. It seemed that this time, Ren Xiaosu had inadvertently helped to cover up for the Zong Consortium's generals who had secretly stashed away the grain reserves. With everything burned down, no one would know that a third of reserves here had gone missing.

However, Ren Xiaosu was unhappy that even though their attack on the granary had a huge impact on the war, it was definitely not enough to deal a fatal blow to the Zong Consortium. As their food reserves had already been spread out, the Zong Consortium would surely have a way to get back all those missing grains.

…

At this moment, all of the generals in the Zong Consortium's headquarters looked very solemn. Zong Ying suddenly slammed his fountain pen onto the table. ”What the hell is with that Zong Wu? We've already allowed him to lead his 131st Brigade to hunt down the enemy, and even sent two supernatural beings to back him up, so how did he allow the enemy to set fire to Stronghold 144 right under their noses? And what are the garrison troops at Stronghold 144 doing? Can't they even organize a defense? How could they let the enemy burn down the granary just like that!”

Zong Ying was about to explode. ”I want their regimental commander executed—”

Before he could finish speaking, Zong Ying suddenly remembered the 1237th Regiment did not currently have a commander, and even the second-in-command had run away too. He did not even have someone to pin the blame on to blow off steam!

A general said, ”Commander, since things have come to this point, we have to think of a countermeasure.”

”Gather all the grain reserves from the various strongholds, and the grains that you people are holding, I want them handed over as well. This matter determines the success or downfall of the consortium, so stop with your selfish little schemes! Did you think I didn't know what you've done?” Zong Ying sneered.

He meant to gather all of the grain reserves of the entire Zong Consortium to send to the front line, including whatever grains he could collect from the residents of the various strongholds.

There were also a lot of grainstuffs that were in the possession of the generals.

When they learned that a war was imminent, many of the generals had wantonly started purchasing an increased amount of grains and hoarded them. They knew that when war broke out, food prices would increase.

As half a kilogram of rice was only worth about a yuan or so, most people wondered how something like that could make anyone any money. But during a war, the price of rice could go up to five, or even ten yuan.